Ghana's economy, fastest-growing in the world - report

Ghana's economic growth has been projected to be the fastest-growing in the world for the first half of 2011 by EconomyWatch.com.

According to a release by EconomyWatch.com, other countries which were selected among the 12 fastest-growing economies in the world were India, Angola, Iraq, Ethiopia, Mozambique, East Timor and Laos.

Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which at the time was estimated to be 20.146 per cent, was far ahead of the 14.337 per cent recorded by Qatar as the next fastest-growing country. Qatar was followed by Turkmenistan, which recorded 12.18 per cent; China, 9.901 per cent; and Liberia with 9.0 per cent.

EconomyWatch.com has a database of information from reputable sources, which it uses for analysis on economies and markets.

The organisation, which has a database of economic statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which tracks the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries across the world, puts Ghana's nominal growth of 23 per cent in the first half ahead of many bigwigs in emerging economies, including China, Qatar, India, Angola and many others.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, reported on July 14, 2011, when he presented the Supplementary Budget Estimates to Parliament, that the year-on-year GDP growth for the first quarter of 2011 showed a 23 per cent growth over that of the same period in 2010.

The provisional quarter-on-quarter estimates of the real GDP showed a growth of 21.4 per cent.

EconomyWatch.com used the nominal GDP growth figures (constant prices based on national currencies).

This impact of the growing economy includes the successful issuance of the GH¢300 million last Friday to fund major road projects, which was over-subscribed by GH¢184 million.

The government eventually accepted GH¢305 million of the bond subscription. This comes in the wake of the international investment community ranking Ghana the fourth best investment destination in Africa, riding on sound and stable economy and political climate.

Reacting to the assessment of Ghana's economy by EconomyWatch.com, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning told the Daily Graphic that this year's economic programme would consolidate the gains made last year and restore fiscal sustainability, as the deficits would be slashed from 6.8 per cent of the GDP in 2010 to 5.1 per cent of GDP in 2011.

Provisional figures for the first half of the year indicate that total revenues and grants were 9.3 per cent higher than the budget target for the period, with corresponding expenditures being 4.2 per cent higher than projected.

“This resulted in the achievement of a cash fiscal deficit equivalent to 1.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product,” the Finance Minister said, adding that the outturn meant a narrowing of the deficit during the first half of the year, compared to a deficit equivalent to 3.4 per cent of GDP for the first half of 2010.

Dr Duffuor said the performance of tax revenue for the first half, which amounted to GH¢4.2 billion or 7.4 per cent of GDP - an outturn which is 20.6 per cent above the targeted - indicated a strong growth in revenues, especially from customs.

He said although expenditures for the first half were also higher than targeted, the performance of revenues led to a lower than budgeted fiscal deficit, which would be monitored to ensure that the economy did not overly expand its fiscal position.